SOO Annex 5 - Hariyo Ban II Annual Performance Report.pdf

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HARIYO BAN PROGRAM-II

Annual Performance Report

July 2019 – June 2020

(Cooperative Agreement No: AID-367-A-16-00008)

Submitted to:

THE UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT NEPAL

MISSION

Maharajgunj, Kathmandu, Nepal

Submitted by:

WWF in partnership with CARE, FECOFUN and NTNC

P.O. Box 7660, Kathmandu, Nepal

Submitted on 28 July 2020 ii

Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................... xi

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. Goal and Objectives

1.2. Overview of Beneficiaries and Stakeholders

1.3. Working Areas

2. ANNUAL PERFORMANCE

2.1. Biodiversity Conservation

2.2. Climate Change Adaptation

2.3. Gender Equality and Social Inclusion

2.4. Governance

3. OVERARCHING THEMES AND ACTIVITIES

3.1. Small Grants Program

3.2. Communications

3.3. Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning

3.4. Sustainability and Legacy

4. MANAGEMENT

4.1. Coordination and Collaboration

4.2. Budget vs. Expenditure

4.3. Operating Environment including Risk and Mitigation Plan

5. LESSONS LEARNED, BEST PRACTICES AND SUCCESS STORIES

6. CHALLENGES AND ANTICIPATED FUTURE PROBLEMS

7. OPPORTUNITIES AND PROSPECTS FOR NEXT YEAR

7.1. Opportunities

7.2. Prospects for next year

Annexes ................................................................................................................................................ - 114 -iii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Hariyo Ban Program II Working Areas, Year 4 Figure 2: Timeline - chronological sequence of important milestones in management of blackbucks Figure 3: Newborn calve with mother; Arna Translocated site, CNP Figure 4:Equipment supported in Molecular lab, BCC Figure 5: Communities during patrolling for pangolin conservation Figure 6: Women journalists from Bagmati Province during the training Figure 7: Grassland managed in Babai Valley, Bardia Figure 8: View of Khaste Neureni Lakes from upstream Figure 9: Vegetables grown inside the plastic tunnel in Kanchanpur Figure 10: Parchment coffee after processing, Adhikari Danda, Kaski Figure 11: Beehive distribution in Korak, Chitwan Figure 12: Cardamom dryer established in Madi, Kaski Figure 14: Women entrepreneurs taking part in carpet making training Figure 15: Entrepreneurs with the madals, Kailali Figure 16: Guest room prepared in Rana Tharu homestay, Kanchanpur Figure 17: (left) ISWM Planning training participants; (right) Participants during practical session Figure 18: CCA-DRR Training organized in Nepal Rastriya High School, Raptisonari-5, Banke Figure 19: Plastic tunnel prepared by communities for off- season vegetable farming at Marshyangdi-5 47 Figure 20: Community people in Bedkot during embankment maintenance Figure 21: Glimpse of Roadside plantation in Lamkchuha, Kailali Figure 22: Well-maintained Recharge pond at Kadeni Tallobhanjyang CFUG, Pokhara-22 Figure 23: Recharge/Conservation pond constructed in Thang Khola CFUG, Khageri Khola sub-watershed Figure 25: Handing over 30 life jacket sets to representatives of Shila CFUG Figure 26: Farmers weekly meeting in Duduwa, Banke Figure 27: Reusable pad making training at Putalibazar Figure 28: Participants in the sensitization meeting Shuklagandaki-9 Figure 29: Street drama event organized in Kanchanpur Figure 30. GBV campaign at Nawalparasi Figure 31: Participants during the opening ceremony during national dialogue event in Kathmandu Figure 32: A woman farmer using zap plat, Banke Figure 33: Seedlings produced in the leaf bag, Banke Figure 34: Yam Framing in Sack (CHAL/Kaski) Figure 35. Workshop at Tanahu Figure 37: The news story on program intervention-canopy bridge in Banke Figure 38: Screenshot of video on "The Aromatic Guardians of Phewa Lake" iv

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Major activities undertaken in Hariyo Ban II Priority Conservation Complexes in TAL Table 2: Major activities implemented in three sub-river basins in CHAL Table 3: The details of policy brief is given in the table below Table 4: Budget versus expenditure of year 4 (July-June 2020) Table 5: Budget versus expenditure of combined year 1-4 till June 2020 Table 6: USAID Obligation vs. expenditure & Total Budget vs. expenditure as of June 2020

LIST OF CHARTS

Chart 1 Sex and caste/ethnicity wise proportion of total beneficiaries, Year 4 Chart 2: Timeline of evolution of the wildlife friendly linear infrastructure Chart 3: Gender and caste/ethnicity composition of LAPA committees Chart 4:Gender composition in SWCCs Chart 5: Women representation in vital position of NRM groups, ICA reassessment Chart 6 Comparison of average score - Initial ICA and Reassessment Chart 7: Comparison of group category/status Chart 8: Forest management regime wise comparison of group category/status - Initial ICA and Reassessment Chart 9: Indicator-wise progress on group management capacity of NRM groups Chart 10: Progress on women representation in executive committees and vital position Chart 11: Resource leveraging status in NRM groups v

LIST OF ANNEXES

Annex 1: List of NGOs/CSOs mobilized by regular and small grants program under Hariyo Ban II

Annex 2: Hariyo Ban II working areas covered during July 2019-June 2020

Annex 3a: Summary of progress of activities – AWP Year 4 (July 2019-June 2020)

Annex 3b: Progress of carried forward activities

Annex 4: Performance Indicator Tracking Table (PITT): July 2019 – June 2020, Year 4

Annex 5: List of ongoing and completed research, studies and assessments

Annex 6: Overview of Policy Support under Hariyo Ban program

Annex 7: Model Community Forests promoted under the Program

Annex 8: GESI Report Card: Progress against GESI Action Plan

Annex 9: List of Policy Advocacy undertaken by FECOFUN

Annex 10a: List of Student Research Grant (4th Lot)

Annex 10b: List of Government Agencies Grant (Year 4)

Annex 10c: List of CSO grants provided in Year 4

Annex 11: List of documentation works that aim to capture key outcomes and knowledge from Hariyo

Ban interventions

Annex 12: Success Stories

Annex 13: List of Hariyo Ban Staff (July 2019-June 2020) vi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

ACA Annapurna Conservation Area ACAP Annapurna Conservation Area Project ACT Organic Agriculture Certification Thailand AFU Agriculture and Forest University AHT Anti-Human Trafficking AWP Annual Work Plan BAFER Nepal Balchaur Forest and Environment Resources Nepal BaNP Banke National Park BCC Biodiversity Conservation Center BCRWME Building Climate Resilience of Watersheds in Mountain Eco-Regions BCT Brahmin Chettri Thakuri BD Biodiversity BMC Basin Management Centre BNP Bardia National Park BZCFUG Buffer Zone Community Forest Users Group BZUC Buffer Zone Users Committee CA Conservation Area CAMC Conservation Area Management Committee CAPA Community Adaptation Plan for Action CARE Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere CBA Community-Based Adaptation CBAPU Community Based Anti-Poaching Units CBO Community Based Organization CCA Climate Change Adaptation CDES Central Department of Environmental Sciences CF Community Forest CFCC Community Forest Coordination Committee CFD Community Forest Development CFDG Community Forest Development Guideline CFOP Community Forest Operational Plan CFUG Community Forest Users Group CHAL Chitwan-Annapurna Landscape CLA Collaborating, Learning and Adapting CLAC Community Learning and Action Center CNP Chitwan National Park CODEFUND Conservation Development Foundation COVID-19 Corona Virus Disease 2019 CS Child Safeguarding CSB Community Score Board CSO Civil society organization CWES Child and Women Empowerment Society vii

CWT Combating Wildlife Trade DANIDA Danish International Development Agency DAO District Administration Office DCC District Coordination Committee DDMC District Disaster Management Committee DEOC District Emergency Operation Center DFID Department for International Development DFO Division Forest Office DG Director General DHM Department of Hydrology and Meteorology DIA-RP Differential Impact Assessment and Response Planning DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid DoFSC Department of Forests and Soil Conservation DPR Disaster response Planning DPRP Disaster Preparedness and Response Plan DQA Data Quality Assessments DRM Disaster Risk Management DRR Disaster Risk Reduction DRR/M Disaster Risk Reduction/Management DSCWM Department of Soil Conservation and Watershed Management DTMC District Technical Management Committee EBA Ecosystem based Adaptation EC Executive Committee ECC Environment Coordination Committee eDNA eDeoxyribonucleic acid EEHV Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpes Virus EFLG Environment Friendly Local Governance EIA/IEE Environmental Impact Assessment/Initial Environmental Examination EU European Union EWS Early Warning System F Female F Filial Generation FECOFUN Federation of Community Forestry Users Nepal FGD Focused Group Discussion FMD Foot and Mouth Disease FoF Faculty of Forest FPIC Free Prior Informed Consent FRIPAD Friends for Peacebuilding and Development Pvt. Ltd FRTC Forest Research and Training Center FUG Forest Users Group FY Fiscal Year GBV Gender Based Violence GESI Gender Equality and Social Inclusion GNDR Gender viii

GoN Government of Nepal GONESA Good Neighbor Service Association GPS Geographic Positioning System GRB Gender Responsive Budget analysis ha Hectare HBP Hariyo Ban Program HH Household HI-AWARE Himalayan Adaptation Water and Resilience HVC High Value Crop HWC Human-Wildlife Conflict IAAS Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science ICA Initial Capacity Assessment ICA Institutional Capacity Assessment ICB Institutional Capacity Building ICIMOD International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development IEC Information Education and Communication IES Incentives for Ecosystem Service IGA Income Generating Activity INGO International Government Organization IoF Institute of Forestry IP Implementing Partner ISWMP Integrated Sub-Watershed Management Plan IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature KAFCOL Kathmandu Forestry College KKSWCC Khageri Khola Sub Watershed Conservation committee km Kilo Meter KrCA Krishnasaar Conservation Area LAPA Local Adaptation Plan for Action LARC Lightning and Atmospheric Research Center LCPV Lake Cluster of Pokhara Valley LDCRP Local Disaster and Climate Resilience Plan LEOC Local Emergency Operation Center LHFG Leasehold Forestry Group LHFUG Leasehold Forestry User Group LHR Local Human Resource LI-BIRD Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research, and Development LIP Livelihood Improvement Plan LNP Langtang National Park LOA Life of Activity LOGO Local Government LPG Liquefied Petroleum Gas LRP Local Resource Person LULC Land Use Land Cover M Men ix m Meter M.Phil. Master of Philosophy MCA Manaslu Conservation Area MCAP Manaslu Conservation Area Project MCF Model Community Forest MEL Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning MESMAN Marsyangdi Ecosystem Services Management Network MoFE Ministry of Forests and Environment MoTIFE Ministry of Tourism, Industry, Forest and Environment MoU Memorandum of Understanding MP Municipality mtDNA Mitochondrial Deoxyribonucleic acid n Number NAP National Adaptation Plan NARC Nepal Agricultural Research Council NARECOS Natural Resources and Environment Conservation NCCSP2 Nepal Climate Change Support Program Phase 2 NDC Nationally Determined Contribution NDVI Normalized Difference Vegetation Index NEC-CPS Nepal Engineering College- Center for Postgraduate Studies NEEDS National Environment and Equity Development Society NFLG National Farmers Group Federation NGO Non-Governmental Organization NGO Non-Governmental Organizations NIRBSA National Integrated River Basin Strategy and Action Plan NIRBSAP National Integrated River Basin Strategy and Action Plan NP National Park NPWC National Park and Wildlife conservation NRM Natural Resource Management NRs Nepalese Rupees NTFP Non-Timber Forest Product NTNC National Trust for Nature Conservation PANI Program for Aquatic Natural Resources Improvement PES Payment for Environmental Service PGA Participatory Governance Assessment PhD Doctor of Philosophy PHPA Public Hearing and Public Auditing PIF Policy and Institutions Facility PITT Performance Indicator Tracking Table PMC Project Management Committee PMP Performance Management Plan PSA Public Service Announcement PSEA Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse PVSE Poor Vulnerable and Socially Excluded x

PWBR Participatory Wellbeing Ranking PWEMB Phewa Watershed Ecosystem Management Board RCDC Rural Community Development Center RECOFTC Regional Community Forestry Training Center for Asia and the Pacific REFTMN Revisiting Ecosystem and Forest Type Mapping of Nepal RF Revolving Fund RM Rural Municipality SEAH Sexual Exploitation Abuse and Harassment SENSE School Environment Conservation Education Network SERVIER-HKH SERVIR Hindu Kush Himalaya SGP Small Grants Program SM Small Mammal SuNP Shuklaphanta National Park SWCC Sub Watershed Coordination Committees SWMO Soil and Watershed Management Office TAL Terai Arc Landscape TMJ Tinjure Milke Jaljale ToR Terms of Reference TU Tribhuvan University TV Television TWG Technical Working Group UDUF United Dalit Upliftment Forum UKAID United Kingdom Aid UNDP United Nations Development Programme US$ U.S. Dollar USAID United States Agency for International Development USD U.S. Dollar US-DS Upstream Downstream USG U.S. Government VAW Violence Against Women WCCB Wildlife Crime Control Bureau WDI Wildlife Damage Insurance WFLI Wildlife Friendly Linear Infrastructure WOO Windows of Opportunity WRMC Watershed Management Resource Centre WWF World Wildlife Fund ZSL Zoological Society of London xi

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This Annual Performance Report of Hariyo Ban Program - II (hereinafter Hariyo Ban II) covers the period from July 2019 to June 2020. Despite early approval of the Annual Work Plan, Hariyo Ban II had limited opportunities to implement its field activities during this period due to the COVID-19 global crisis. Nevertheless, the Program focused on consolidation and logical conclusions of the interventions with documentation of the outcomes and learning for smooth handover to local governments, local implementing partners, community-based organizations and beneficiaries. Hariyo Ban has completed 9th year of its implementation considering both the first and second phase. In nine years, the Program has produced not just good results but also has generated valuable learnings. The Program had aimed to achieve over 90% of its Life of Activity (LOA) commitment (indicators and targets) by the end of Year 4, but the COVID-19 crisis stopped us in doing so since most of the activities planned in fourth quarter of Year 4 had to be postponed to fifth year. By the end of June 2020, out of 50 indicators, the Program has met over 90% of targets for 28 indicators while 10 indicators achieved below 90%. Remaining 12 indicators are outcome level and the progress on these indicators will be measured through endline survey and assessments in fifth year.

During this reporting period, the Program continued to focus its interventions in four biodiversity complexes in the Terai Arc Landscape (TAL): Shuklaphanta-Brahmadev, Bardia-Karnali, Banke-Kamdi;

and, Chitwan-Barandabhar; and in three sub-river basins in Chitwan-Annapurna Landscape (CHAL):

Seti, Marshyangdi, and Daraundi with strategic focus in Seti sub-river basin. The working area in Year 4 covered 14 districts, in which 2 Metropolitan Cities, 3 Sub-metropolitan Cities, 39 Municipalities and 42 Rural Municipalities were engaged for program implementation. A total of 68,547 people (33,879 female) including Dalit, Janajati, and communities dependent on natural resources directly benefitted from the Program activities. We closely worked with diverse stakeholders including Government of Nepal (GoN) at federal, provincial, and local levels; natural resource management (NRM) groups and their federations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations (CSOs), several women groups, private sector and media. We have been intensively engaged in some Municipalities, collaborating in planning and implementation of activities, capitalizing on opportunities provided by federalization in Nepal.

Biodiversity Conservation: Building on Hariyo Ban first phase, Hariyo Ban II focused on ~20 focal species of wildlife based on their local and global conservation status. Severity of poaching has been reduced (~celebrated six 365-days of rhino zero poaching since 2011) for large mammals such as tiger and rhinoceros, however, threats have increased amid this COVID-19 situation. The human-wildlife conflicts (HWC) is on increasing trend and anticipated effectiveness of our investment in reducing HWC is yet to be seen. Strategic interventions in corridor and nearby areas do suggest reduction in threats and vulnerabilities with improvement in biophysical condition facilitating the landscape processes including climate and migration corridors. Increase in population size of tiger (235 individuals) showed improved effectiveness of Hariyo Ban’s contribution in TAL. Other focal species from mid-hills: pangolin and red panda have their species conservation action plans approved for the next five years. Two new species conservation action plans have been drafted for wild water buffalo and bear species (sloth bear, mountain xii black bear and brown bear). Flash flood in 2016 in Chitwan National Park (CNP) led to extensive damage to newly established populations wild water buffalo and swamp deer but with continuous efforts in the aftermath of the flood, at least wild water buffalo population is showing some ray of hope as the population gained two F2 generation calves; while reintroduced populations of rhino and blackbuck in Bardia and Suklaphanta, respectively are thriving well. Performance is good with F3-F21 generation recorded in both blackbuck and rhino populations. Nepal’s in-situ efforts in blackbuck conservation has seen significant achievements with sub-populations reaching viable population status. A country-wide assessment of pangolin distribution shows 15% of the total land surface has been identified as potentially suitable habitat for pangolin. Hariyo Ban II continued research & monitoring and strategic conservation of 20 focal species and have been able to publish 13 peer reviewed articles.

To reduce threats to focal species and to combat wildlife crime, the Program in Year 4 continued support to form, capacitate and mobilize Community-Based Anti-Poaching Units (CBAPUs) in critical corridors, buffer zones and biodiversity important areas in both CHAL and TAL Engagement of non-conventional partners, such as the judiciary, transport, customs, and postal service, was also continued to reduce illegal wildlife trade along the trade routes through capacity building, mass awareness, information displays in critical locations and multi-stakeholder’s interaction meetings. As a new initiative, provincial parliamentarian and government officials were sensitized on the illegal wildlife trade issues. This engagement is expected to mainstream wildlife crime control in provincial level policies and annual plans.

To reduce human-wildlife conflict (HWC), awareness campaigns were conducted, and the Hariyo Ban supported HWC relief funds were mobilized at the national, sub-basin and community levels to support the affected households. Our support to conserve focal floral species, such as Champ and Bijaysal, continued focusing on additional plantation, regular weeding and clearing. Model Community Forests (12 CF in 4 provinces) have improved forest management practices (~1,506 ha benefitting ~4,883 households) with effective coordination with local government and collaborated with neighboring CFs for developing the approach as learning center. Model CFs have been scaled up in each working complex by designing activities based on sustainable management of forest. We closely worked with the local provincial and government to restore and manage critical sub-watersheds and Lake Cluster of Pokhara Valley. Interventions have been extended in the seven out of nine lakes in the cluster.

The Program supported the Government of Nepal (GoN) to undertake transboundary meetings between Nepal and India in Suhelwa, Uttar Pradesh, India to review/discuss current trans-border conservation issues with more focus on wildlife crime, and role of Kamdi corridor in maintaining connectivity between Banke-Bardia National Park (NP) and Suhelwa Wildlife Sanctuary; and also shared ongoing Hariyo Ban initiatives to restore Kamdi. In first phase, the Program supported the government to formulate, review and update more than 150 policy level documents and the support is continuing in Hariyo Ban II. The program is supporting federal governments to formulate, review, update acts, policies and strategies, action plans, management on environment, natural resources and wildlife, and to the local governments for preparing their long-term master plans, the local environment and natural resources acts and the local disaster and climate resilience plans. Policy support has been instrumental for mainstreaming, 1 F2 stands for "second filial generation”: offspring from the F1 generation population. Likewise, F3 stands for "third filial generation”: offspring from F2 generation populations xiii harmonizing and institutionalizing the good practices of Hariyo Ban Program and has been a good opportunity to scale up or scale out beyond Hariyo Ban Program sites/landscapes.

The Hariyo Ban II has also supported Ministry of Forests and Environment (MoFE)-Forest Research and Training Center for revisiting Nepal’s Ecosystems and Forest Type Mapping through its Small Grant Program. The Program has also expanded its collaboration with the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Government and the Ministry of Urban Development, to streamline the learnings on wildlife friendly infrastructure development. The Green Road Engineering Manual, developed with support from Hariyo Ban, has been published by the Department of Road. This will be used as reference for upgrading standard of rural roads being implemented by local governments. The camera trap study conducted to assess the use of wildlife underpass built at Aptari along the Narayanghat-Muglin road has been published, while use of canopy bridge in national highway facilitating safe crossing of the arboreal species, has been successfully piloted. All these supports have been instrumental both to capacitate concerned government agencies and also create an enabling environment to safeguard country’s diverse and pristine natural resource base.

With all the strategic interventions implemented in Year 4, biodiversity conservation interventions reached out directly/indirectly to 20,442 beneficiaries (Male - 11,792 and Female - 8,650). This accounts for 30% of total beneficiaries.

Market based livelihoods: Hariyo Ban II continued support to deliver economic benefits among forest dependent communities involved in conservation and management of natural resources, promoting climate smart and conservation friendly market-based livelihood and employment opportunities through small, medium and large-scale green enterprises in its working landscapes. Collection and value addition of forest products, promotion of high value agriculture crops through block plantation, processing and marketing of the products and ecotourism promotion through strengthening existing homestays were among the key activities. Link with local government for resource leverage and monitoring of NRM groups’ revolving fund, to promote market-based livelihood options were major strategies. By involving in the different enterprises, 3,455 families in Year 4 have earned NRs 52,165,882. Moreover, an assessment on the effectiveness of skill-based training was carried out, which reveals that the overall employment rate among skill-based trainees was 68% and 40% of them had started own business after the training.

Altogether, market-based livelihood interventions reached out directly/indirectly to 7,375 beneficiaries (Male- 3,276 and Female- 4,099) in Year 4. This accounts for 11 % of total beneficiaries.

Climate Change Adaptation: Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) component aims at reducing climate change vulnerability in CHAL and TAL. In the first phase, Hariyo Ban supported to prepare 90 Local Adaptation Plan for Action (LAPA), 331 Community Adaptation Plan for Action (CAPA), and 14 Integrated Sub-watershed Management Plans (ISWMPs). The Program also supported implementation of 78 out of 90 LAPAs, CAPAs, and ISWMPs. In the second phase, Hariyo Ban focused to upscale implementation of LAPAs with more effective inclusion of vulnerable people by improving understanding and analysis of differential impacts and greater focus on disaster risk reduction (DRR), safety net and leveraging of resources for implementation of CCA activities. Emphasis was given in xiv integration and mainstreaming of CCA and DRR in local planning processes through sharing of Hariyo Ban’s best practices and learning using different platforms.

In Year 4, the Program supported for capacity building of relevant government officials affiliated to federal and provincial governments (River Basin Management Centers, Watershed Management Resource Center, Soil and Watershed Management Offices) in integrated sub-watershed management planning process followed by a joint visit to share the best practices and results in Khageri Khola sub-watershed, Chitwan and identify potential vulnerable sites for future intervention.

The Program in the Year 4 supported implementation of 19 LAPAs and 8 ISWMPs benefitting to 8,840 people (51% female). The major activities include review and reflection and linkage development workshop events (30), capacity building trainings (122 events), water source protection (6 sites), conservation/recharge ponds (six sites), runoff water harvesting dam (3 sites), and embankment construction (8 sites). Similarly, the Program also supported to Lamki Chuha Municipality in Bardia- Karnali Complex for greening 10 km road sections by providing 487 tree guards for the protection of seedlings planted along roadsides where NRs. 5.5 million have been leveraged from the municipality.

The Program has been facilitating the Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) fund mobilization as per the revised guideline, engaging with Marshyangdi Rural Municipality and Besisahar Municipality for integration, mainstreaming and localization of the Payment for Environmental Service (PES) basket fund.

As a result, Marsyangdi Rural Municipality endorsed 'Environmental Services Management Fund Mobilization Guideline 2076’ on 12 January 2020. Currently, the local government is preparing for the establishment of institutions at Rural Municipality level as well as allocation of budget for its effective implementation which will further strengthen the sustainability of Hariyo Ban Program's initiatives.

Policy related decisions of Marsyangdi Rural Municipality may stimulate other local, provincial and federal governments to come up with a comprehensive PES policy.

The Differential Impact Assessment and Response Planning (DIA-RP) Framework/Tool initiated in the first year has been finalized incorporating learning and experiences of field level application. MoFE has provided its consent for publication of this framework by Hariyo Ban as a complimentary tool to recently revised LAPA framework. The acknowledgement by the ministry will greatly help to scale-up one of Hariyo Ban's pioneer work and best practice. A study on flood and inundation hazard mapping in Seti sub-basin that clearly identifies Palika level flood prone areas based on different recurrent period of flooding has been completed and the key recommendations of this study have been shared to different stakeholders including the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Laws, Gandaki Province. These stakeholders have committed to consider this report as reference for identifying future course of actions as part of preparedness and mitigation of possible impacts in flood prone and vulnerable areas along the sub-basin areas.

In order to create an enabling environment for integration of CCA/DRR in local plans, the Program shared Hariyo Ban Plans and Progress in 18 local governments through Institutionalization of Planning, Monitoring, Review Reflection and Learning Sharing within LAPA Committees in CHAL and TAL where local governments also shared their plans as well. These events fostered mutual understanding and collaboration between the Program and the Palikas. As a result, the local governments are contributing financial and technical resources for the design and implementation of small construction activities, xv replicating best practices and learning from Hariyo Ban. In addition, they have also committed to include some Hariyo Ban initiated practices, innovations and technologies in their next year’s annual plans/red books. Thus, these activities helped in integration and mainstreaming CCA-DRR in local plans, collaboration with local governments and resource leveraging

The Program has collaborated with United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded SERVIER-HKH Project, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) with an objective to apply the Hariyo Ban Program's innovative approach/tools and SERVIR HKH's Climate Resilient Forest Management System products in an integrated way for better results in natural resources management and resilience building. This has helped in further refining the group-based forest fire insurance scheme initiated by Federation of Community Forestry Users Nepal (FECOFUN). ICIMOD is also going to support FECOFUN in updating their central database of Community Forest Users Groups (CFUGs). Furthermore, ICIMOD has published a manual on ‘Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process to support decision making on climate change adaptation’ which was also a product of joint effort between Hariyo Ban Program and ICIMOD’s Himalayan Adaptation, Water and Resilience (HI-AWARE) Team.

The Program has supported MoFE-Department of Forest and Soil Conservation to formulate National Integrated River Basin Strategy and Action Plan (NIRBSAP) which will guide future course of integrated watershed management in Nepal, and this strategic document will be finalized by the end of July.

In Year 4, climate change adaptation interventions reached out directly/indirectly to 23,934 beneficiaries (Male- 12,093 and Female- 11,841). This accounts for 35% of total beneficiaries.

Gender Equality and Social Inclusion: Conservation of biodiversity, sustainable management of natural resources, and building resilience to climate change with community stewardship and effective mobilization hinges upon ensuring gender equality and social inclusion. In local communities, women are responsible for managing forest resources, and poor and marginalized people are often the most dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods and wellbeing. Similarly, gender inequality and gender roles, different needs and preference of men and women influence them to develop different coping mechanisms to the impacts of climate change. Thus, it is very crucial to empower women and men from the poor and marginalized communities to enhance their access to equitable benefit sharing and, on the decision-making level in natural resource management and in the climate change adaptation context.

Considering these facts, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) has been taken as an important cross-cutting theme of Hariyo Ban II which focuses on the following result areas:

• Improved internal GESI policies, standards, and governance practiced by user groups;

• More women, youth, and marginalized people engage in effective leadership, decision making and advocacy; and

• More equitable access to and benefits sharing from natural resources for women and marginalized groups.

Building on achievements and experiences of Phase I, the Program made efforts to achieve the results by adopting two approaches, i) GESI mainstreaming in two core components, and ii) GESI focused programs. Support to NRM groups to strengthen their governance including formulation of internal GESI policies and engagement with national and local level governments for strengthening and formulating xvi their GESI policies related to the environment sector in particular, and documentation of learning about value addition of GESI interventions were amongst the key actions in Year 4.

In Year 4, GESI interventions reached out directly/indirectly to 8,966 beneficiaries (Male- 3,398 and Female- 5,568). This accounts for 13 % of total beneficiaries.

Governance: In phase I, the Program focused on strengthening the internal governance of NRM groups by organizing awareness building on CFD Guideline 2065 and its provisions, application of governance tools: Participatory Well-being Ranking (PWBR), Participatory Governance Assessment (PGA), Public Hearing and Public Auditing (PHPA) and equitable benefit sharing. The Program also piloted social accountability tools such as Gender Responsive Budget analysis (GRB) and Community Score Board (CSB). The Program reached out to 1,234 NRM groups. Out of them 328 applied all four tools (PGA, PWBR, PHPA and equitable benefit sharing) and improved their governance.

In Phase II, the Program focused on four result areas: capacity building, resource mobilization and leverage, advancing local solutions and improved policy for enabling environment. In order to achieve these results, the Program adopted few specific strategies: (i) bundling governance tools and technical skills for institutional capacity and governance improvement (ii) continue engagement in policy discourse, and mainstreaming governance across all themes. In Year 4, the governance interventions were focused on completing the delivery of capacity building packages, conducting reassessments of NRM groups’ capacity, engagement on policy discourse and scaling up local solutions.

In Year 4, governance interventions reached out directly/indirectly to 7,539 beneficiaries (Male- 3,827 and Female- 3,712). This accounts for 11% of total beneficiaries.

Communications: The Communications Unit continued its focus on maintaining the profile of the Hariyo Ban Program through strategic stakeholder engagement. Supporting knowledge and legacy documentation was a major priority in this reporting period.

Small Grants Program: The Small Grants Program (SGP) in Hariyo Ban II (Windows of Opportunity in the first phase), has been executed to ensure innovation, capacity building, research testing and promote innovative science and technology, pilot new approaches/tools focusing on ecological and community resilience-building. The SGP provides funding support in four major areas: i) Short term research through students, ii) Civil Society Organization (CSO) and private sector grant, iii) Government agencies grant, and iv) grants for Disaster response and management. This year, an additional 35 students received support to undertake their academic research work to fulfil partial requirement of their degrees. So far, a total of 192 students received grants from the Program. Among them, more than 130 have completed their research and submitted their final report. Additional 10 grants were issued to government agencies during this reporting period, totaling the number of grants to them to 30. The Program also focused on concluding the ongoing CSO grants.

Monitoring and Evaluation: Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) activities during the Year 4 were focused more on learning and knowledge management, capacity building, midline assessment, field monitoring and data quality assessments. Particularly, the MEL Unit constantly worked with program teams to review the progress on indicator targets. This has largely helped to increase stewardship of consortium partners on Performance Indicator Tracking Table (PITT) targets and put consolidated efforts xvii in attaining targets by updating and adapting to new strategies. Most of the indicator targets have been achieved proportionate to the time elapsed, even Life of Activity (LOA) target of some indicators have already been achieved. However, due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, many planned events in Year 4 such as small assessment, review reflection meetings at various levels, monitoring visits and Data Quality Assessments (DQA) could not be conducted as stipulated.

Operating Environment, Risks and Mitigation Measures: The operating environment in the first half of Year 4 remained stable. No major disasters were witnessed, local governments were functioning fully and coordination among them gradually improving. Hence, Hariyo Ban intensified its collaboration with local and provincial governments at different levels. In addition, the Program supported all three levels of governments in strategic initiatives such as formulation of Policies, Plans, Acts and Regulation related to biodiversity conservation, climate change adaptation and GESI. However, the second half of the year (starting January 2020), witnessed a completely different situation with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Hariyo Ban’s activities implementation have been put on hold since March, and most of the remaining activities scheduled for the last quarter of the Year 4 of project had to be postponed to the fifth year. The lockdown period of three months has been used for performance reporting and documentation of Hariyo Ban achievements and learning, as well as to adjust implementation modality to the new context.

The pandemic is already showing serious consequences in economic and social sectors. Most of the large-scale outmigration from rural areas, particularly of men for employment, is seeing a reverse trend as the destination countries are facing economic crisis. The social, political, economic and environmental impacts from this pandemic will have implications on Hariyo Ban II implementation in fifth year.

Overall, the operating context of Hariyo Ban II in the fifth year, including completion of carried over activities from Year 4, will be more challenging compared to previous years. The Program will meet objectives in the fifth year by adjusting its implementation modality, strategies and approaches to align them with the evolving context and government protocol/guidelines, while trying to address the impacts of crisis on the Program results as well as its beneficiaries.

1. INTRODUCTION

The Hariyo Ban Program-II (hereinafter Hariyo Ban II), funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is a five-year initiative (July 2016-July 2021) implemented by a consortium of World Wildlife Fund (lead), Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE), Federation of Community Forestry Users Nepal (FECOFUN), and National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC). Hariyo Ban II is a continuation of the Hariyo Ban Program (2011 to 2016) and is being implemented in close coordination and collaboration with the Government at federal, provincial and local levels. Hariyo Ban II works on two core thematic components: (1) biodiversity conservation and (2) climate change adaptation. Market-based livelihood opportunities, gender equality and social inclusion, and governance are important crosscutting themes. This Annual Performance Report covers the progress of the Program in the period of 1st July 2019 to 30th June 2020.

1.1. Goal and Objectives

Building on the achievements and learning from the first phase of the Program, the Hariyo Ban II aims to increase ecological and community resilience in the Chitwan-Annapurna Landscape and the Terai Arc Landscape through two specific objectives.

Objective 1: Improve the conservation and management of GoN-identified biodiverse landscapes

- CHAL and TAL

Objective 2: Reduce climate change vulnerabilities in Chitwan Annapurna Landscape and Terai Arc Landscape

1.2. Overview of Beneficiaries and Stakeholders

The Hariyo Ban II continued to work with governmental and non-governmental partners at federal, provincial and local levels to implement planned activities for achieving intended results. Poor, Dalits, indigenous people, Janajatis, youth, wildlife affected families and vulnerable men and women representing various natural resources management groups are the primary target communities of the Program. The major beneficiaries, stakeholders and partners include:

● Local communities and groups with focus on poor, vulnerable and socially excluded (PVSE) people including users from NRM groups and their networks, and local resource persons (LRPs).

NRM groups include Community Forest Users Groups (CFUGs); Buffer Zone Community Forest Users Groups (BZCFUGs); Buffer Zone Users Committees (BZUCs); Conservation Area Management Committees (CAMCs); Leasehold Forestry Groups (LHFGs), and women/youth groups.

● GoN agencies:

Federal level o Ministry of Forests and Environment (MoFE) and its Departments, River Basin

Management Centers, Division/Sub-Division Forest Offices (DFO) and Protected Areas (National Parks, Conservation Areas and Buffer Zones) o Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration o Postal and custom authorities at different checkpoints

Provincial level o Provincial governments in Gandaki, Sudur Paschim, Bagmati and Province 5 o Soil Conservation and Watershed Management Offices o District Coordination Committees (DCCs), and government line agencies at district level

Local level o Metropolitan Cities (2), Sub-Metropolitan Cities (3), Municipalities (39) and Rural

Municipalities (42)

● Non-government organizations o Research institutions o Worked jointly with 44 NGOs and CSOs under regular and SGP to date. Refer Annex 1 for detail list of NGOs/CSOs.

o LI-BIRD o FECOFUN - Provincial and District and Local chapters o International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)

● Private sectors and media o Women journalists from all provinces o Organic Certification Nepal o Lightning and Atmospheric Research Center o Artha Institute o Kisan Agro Mart Pvt. Ltd o Cooperatives

During this reporting period, 68,655 people benefitted from the Program. Of the beneficiaries, 50.53% (34,690) were male and 49.47% (33,965) female. The detailed ethnic breakdown includes: 40.19% Brahmin, Chettri, Thakuri (BCT); 40.78% Janajati;

14.37% Dalit; 2.23% Newar;

Chart 1 Sex and caste/ethnicity wise proportion of total beneficiaries, Year 4

0.89% Muslim and 1.54% Other. By age group, 12.43% were 15-19 years old, 7.43% were 20-24 years old, 8.49% 25-29 years old, 11.71% 30-34 years old, and 47.60% were older than 34. Among the total beneficiaries, 10,258 people, or 14.94%, are poor.

1.3. Working Areas

Hariyo Ban II continued its intervention focus in the four biodiversity complexes - Shuklaphanta-Brahmadev, Bardia-Karnali, Banke- Kamdi, and Chitwan- Barandabhar in Terai Arc Landscape (TAL); and three sub-river basins - Seti, Marsyangdi and Daraundi in Chitwan Annapurna Landscape (CHAL). The working area covers 14 districts; 6 in TAL (Banke, Bardia, Dadeldhura, Dang, Kailali and Kanchanpur) and 8 in CHAL (Chitwan, Gorkha, Kaski, Lamjung, Mustang, Nawalparasi, Syangja and Tanahu). The Program covered a total of 2 Metropolitan Cities, 3 Sub-metropolitan Cities, 39 Municipalities and 42 Rural Municipalities from 4 Provinces.

Hariyo Ban II continued to work in 2 Metropolitan Cities, 22 Municipalities and 31 Rural Municipalities in CHAL; and 3 Sub-metropolitan Cities, 17 Municipalities and 11 Rural Municipalities in TAL. The detailed description of the intervention areas is provided in Annex 2. Beyond the working areas, the Program has implemented the key interventions for combating wildlife crime beyond the working districts (25) which are Baitadi, Bhaktapur, Darchula, Dhanusa, Ilam, Jhapa, Kapilvastu, Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Mahottari, Morang, Parbat, Parsa, Rasuwa, Rautahat, Rupendehi, Salyan, Sankhuwasabha, Saptari, Sindhupalchok, Siraha, Sunsari, Surkhet, Taplejung and Terhathum.

Major interventions in TAL and CHAL during Year 4 are highlighted in tables below.

Table 1: Major activities undertaken in Hariyo Ban II Priority Conservation Complexes in TAL Shuklaphanta-

Brahmadev Bardia-Karnali Banke-Kamdi Chitwan-Barandabhar

Management of reintroduced Blackbuck population; support to implement Bijaysal Conservation Action Plan and extension of Bijaysal conservation network; technical

Action research on grassland management; support for implementation of Krishnasaar Conservation Area (KrCA) Management works; habitat management in critical corridors;

promotion of model

Kamdi corridor restoration initiatives;

capacity building and mobilization of Community Based Anti-poaching Units;

agro- advisory services to local

Management support for reintroduced wild water buffaloes and swamp deer;

capacity building of molecular lab; promotion of MCF;

pangolin conservation and monitoring; habitat restoration; support for

Figure 1: Hariyo Ban Program II Working Areas, Year 4

Shuklaphanta- Brahmadev Bardia-Karnali Banke-Kamdi Chitwan-Barandabhar support to prepare 25 years strategic master plan of Bheemdatt Municipality; support in installation of cement trough for open grazing management; support for predator proof corrals; strengthening of eco-tourism sites and other enterprises; and support for implementation of Pantura and Chaudhar (Radha) Support implementation of ISWMPs and LAPAs plans.

community forests; support implementation of local adaptation and disaster preparedness and response plans; support for dairy, vegetable and Madal enterprises; collaborative support for implementation of Master Plan of Thakurbaba Municipality;

empowering and mobilization of Badi and Muslim Community Learning and Action Center (CLACs)s.

farmers; support for implementation of Local Adaptation Plans (LAPAS) and various market based livelihood activities;

and support for promotion of climate smart, time and energy saving, Gender and Social Inclusion (GESI) friendly technologies;

promotion of model community forests

(MCF).

implementation of Khageri Khola Integrated Sub-watershed Management Plan (ISWMP) and local adaptation plans; promotion of eco-tourism, wool weaving, support for honey and dairy enterprises; and support for promotion of climate smart, time and energy saving, GESI friendly technologies and practices for agriculture and domestic use through demonstration and action research.

Table 2: Major activities implemented in three sub-river basins in CHAL Seti Marsyangdi Daraundi

Implementation of Lake Cluster of Pokhara Valley Management Plan and strengthening the governance of lake management committees; strengthening the Phewa Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES); upscaling greening trans-Himalayan cold desert; restoration of critical bottleneck areas; support CFUGs for Community Forest Operational Plan (CFOP) revision and implementation; capacity strengthening of model CFs; strengthening of coffee, broom, cardamom, bel, eco-tourism and other enterprises; support for implementation of Sukhaura-Khudi Khola, Kyangdi, Phusre Phedi Khola and Harpan Khola ISWMPs; support for implementation of Local Disaster and Climate Resilience Plan (LDCRP) and LAPAs;

support for promotion of climate smart, time and energy saving, GESI friendly technologies and practices for agriculture and domestic use; and promotion of model CFs.

Promotion of MCF;

Support for strengthening PES mechanism and implementation of Khudi Marsyangdi ISWMPs; and promotion of eco-tourism.

Prey base monitoring in Manaslu Conservation Area (MCA); promotion of eco-tourism;

community-based pangolin monitoring and conservation; CBAPU mobilization; support for revision of CFOPs;

implementation of LAPA and LDCRP; and strengthening and promotion of enterprises.

In addition, the long-term monitoring of biodiversity in the context of climate change in 12 permanent virtual plots (2 km X 2 km) along the altitudinal gradient ranging from about 100 m in Chitwan to over 4,500 m in Kali Gandaki sub-basin is ongoing. Strengthening GESI and governance of NRM groups is continued in all complexes and river basins. Activities related to human-wildlife conflict management and combating wildlife crime have also been continued and will be continued across TAL and CHAL as well as beyond the Hariyo Ban II working landscape boundaries.

2. ANNUAL PERFORMANCE

Hariyo Ban II’s overall activities are guided by landscape strategies and action plans: Terai Arc Landscape Strategy and Action Plan (2015-2025) and Chitwan Annapurna Landscape Strategy and Action Plan (2016-2025). In Year 4, Hariyo Ban II continued to its activities in priority complexes in TAL and sub river basins in TAL in line with the approved Annual Work Plan (AWP). Major achievements under each result area and crosscutting themes are outlined in the section below, and the summary of progress is presented in Annex 3a. Also, the summary of progress on carry over activities from previous year is given in Annex 3b.

The Program was affected by COVID-19 that seriously hindered the target of achieving over 90% of its Life of Activity (LOA) commitment (indicators and targets) by the end of the Year 4. Most of the activities planned in the fourth quarter had to be postponed to fifth year. By the end June 2020, out of 50 indicators, the Program has met over 90% of targets for 28 indicators while 10 indicators achieved below 90%. Remaining 12 outcome level indicators and progress on these indicators will be measured through end line survey and assessments in fifth year. Detail annual targets and overall progresses on indicators in past four years is presented in Annex 4.

2.1. Biodiversity Conservation

Building on first phase, the Hariyo Ban II continued to focus on ~20 focal species based on their conservation status globally and locally. Severity of poaching is reduced drastically for large mammals, such as tiger and rhinoceros (Nepal celebrated six 365 days of zero poaching of rhinoceros since 2011).

The human-wildlife conflicts (HWC) is on increasing trend and anticipated effectiveness of our…